Back in 84, he became Jordan’s lifelong enemy!

Chapter 24 The big shot appears!
The University of Kentucky is a well-known basketball school in the league. In terms of team historical achievements, it is only slightly inferior to UCLA.

North Carolina, Michael Jordan's alma mater, Duke, the Blue Devils of future Devil coach K, and Indiana University, Larry Bird's alma mater, are all inferior.

Counting from 1984 this year, they have won a total of 5 NCAA championships, two runner-ups, 8 semi-finals, and 20 top 8s in history.

The glory of history is really inferior to UCLA and superior to ten thousand people.

The last time they won a championship was in 78.

Such a prominent team straddles the Southeastern Conference, overshadowing almost all teams in the division. It's only natural that Auburn University can recruit talented people.

Just because of the existence of the University of Kentucky, many talented players are always their first choice for the Southeastern Conference.

Not to mention Sam Bowie at this time, the future Big Eyebrows, Towns, Cousins, John Wall, and Adebayo all came from this school, and they have many famous alumni.

Compared with them, Auburn University is simply the ugly duckling next to the swan.

The difference is too big!
Auburn University's team history does not rank among the top five in the Southeastern Conference, let alone compared with the University of Kentucky.

However, the team's history is full of glory. At present, the team's strength ranking cannot all be based on past achievements, but also on current results.

Although Auburn University does not have a rich team history, its 11-1 record this season is only one more loss than the University of Kentucky. On the surface, there is not much difference in strength between the two.

Because of this, the local media in Alabama called this game a 'strong dialogue'.

Before the game even started, five major local newspapers in Alabama were writing about the game.

What lineups are compared, what interior lines are compared, and what offense and defense are compared?
Auburn University has been compared with the University of Kentucky inside and out, especially the inside line, which is the most compared point.

If the University of Kentucky has the strongest twin towers of Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin, then Auburn University's Suvin and Barkley are both useless inside.

This 'waste' is not a disability in terms of strength, but a disability in height.

Judging from the performance of the first twelve games of the new season, major media found that both sides' insiders are strong men, but they are not equal in size, and at the same time they have their own characteristics.

On one side are the Optimus Prime-like twin towers controlling the basket, and on the other side are the extremely mobile killers under the basket. Which one is stronger and which one is weaker will be determined on the court.

But no matter what, Su Wen has become famous and has become a newcomer mentioned many times by many media in this state, surpassing all newcomers in this division.

The inside duo formed by him and Barkley has been brilliant in twelve games, with almost no downturns.

His average of 20+10+5 per game seems much inferior to the 30+15 per game average in the NBA, but after all, this is only an NCAA game, and a game only lasts 40 minutes.

Such data performance is eye-catching enough.

If this is put into the national championship, it can directly compete with the two star insiders Olajuwon and Ewing, and even pose a threat to their future draft positions.

His strong performance naturally attracted the attention of many people.

Many teams have begun to study his strengths and weaknesses, especially Kentucky, which is about to play against them.

"We need to focus on this No. 9, this Chinese player named Su."

In the Wildcats war room, a group of people were sitting and watching the tape of the game between Auburn University and the Florida Gators, and it was their coach Joe Hall who was speaking.

Behind him are his assistant coaches and players.

Five starters, including Sam Bowie, Melvin Turpin, Kenny Walker, Jim Mast, and Winston Belt, as well as a handful of substitutes.

Needless to say, Sam Bowie and Turpin are two future high-ranking players. The latter three also successfully entered the NBA based on their past performance and abilities.

Kenny Walker, a sophomore like Chuck Person, was also a high-ranking rookie in 86. He was selected by the New York Knicks with the fifth overall pick in the first round, just behind Chuck Person.

The two of them were destined to be together.

He is a person who joined the team as a freshman in the same year and gradually grew up, and he is also a person who participated in the draft in the same year and was selected with a high pick, and the picks were connected.

The only difference is that Chuck Person's future NBA career is much better than his.

Person is the San Antonio Spurs' first 3D player in the future. During the glory days of his career, he averaged 21+6 per game and was selected to the All-Rookie Team.

Walker, on the other hand, disappeared from the league after only playing for a few years.

But this is a matter of the future. Right now, Walker is still the No. 12.4 player at the University of Kentucky, averaging 5.9 points and [-] rebounds per game.

The University of Kentucky has such a strong lineup, but at this time it is quite afraid of Auburn University's inside line.

Without him, they have learned about Su Wen and Barkley's mobility and impact at the basket. These advantages are all outstanding but not comparable to Sam Bowie.

Joe Hall, the coach who led them to the 78 NCAA championship, pressed the pause button with a solemn expression and asked Sam Bowie, "Sam, can I trust you?"

Bowie stared at the TV screen, Su Wen broke through Florida Gators big man Rooney Williams' Qiao fitness picture, and fell into thought.

He didn't know how to answer.

can?
cannot?

Finally, he said yes to Joe Hall.

Nothing else, just because he is confident enough in himself.

He not only has a height of 216cm, but also has high mobility that does not match his height. His movement speed and footwork flexibility also surpass most insiders.And Su Wen?
No matter how fast he is, he is just a short center of [-] meters.

Why was Rooney Williams so beaten by Su Wen in this game that he couldn't pose any threat?
Isn't it caused by being short but not fast enough?
Bao Wei is confident that he will be able to protect his opponent and his family's three acres of land.

Joe Hall nodded and said nothing.

He pressed the play button, and when the scene of Barkley attacking Eugene McDowell and dunking under the basket appeared, he paused again, then looked at Melvin Turpin and asked: "Melvin, what about you? ?”

He looked at the opponent with bright eyes and a faint smile on his lips, "You have played against him many times in the past two years, so you must be quite experienced in his defense, right?"

In the first two seasons, Sam Bowie was troubled by injuries and was never able to play. Turpin has always stood at the fifth position.

The two halves of the Southeastern Conference meet twice a year and four times every two years. It can be said that Turpin is quite familiar with Barkley.

"no problem."

Compared to Bowie's hesitation, Turpin was much more decisive.

"I will definitely take good care of him."

Although he lost more than he won in the four duels with Barkley, after Bowie returned from injury, his inside tasks have been reduced. He believes that as long as he focuses on defense, his opponent Barkley should have no problem. .

"Well!"

Joe Hall stood up, with a high-profile look that believed in his players, Bowie and Turpin, and announced: "Then these two Tigers insiders will be left to you!"

As he said that, he looked at the two disciples with a look that suddenly became sharp, "Don't let us down."

Seeing the champion coach's dagger-like glance, Bowie and Turpin were shocked and nodded in assurance.

Unlike the confident and calm battle meeting at the University of Kentucky, Sonny Smith, who had just announced the end of training and returned to the office, looked sad.

The two opponents' big men who were over 210cm tall put too much pressure on him.

In an era when the inside is king, the height advantage sometimes means all the advantages.

Didn’t you see that throughout the NBA in the 80s, 95% of the regular season MVP winners were insiders?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, Moses Malone, Bill Walton, these are all famous super insiders in the league.

Push forward another ten years, and it was also a duo of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell in addition to Oscar Robertson.

Even Wes Unseld and Wesley Reed, who stole the chicken between the two and won the MVP trophy, are also inside players.

And every championship team in the past 30 to [-] years has a super center guarding the basket in the lineup.

In this era when super insiders still mean everything, it has become the consensus of the world that whoever wins the center wins the world.

Right now, the University of Kentucky has two outstanding centers, and any one of them can become the main center of many strong basketball schools. This pressure on Sonny Smith is naturally huge.

Even though they have won 12 of the last 11 games and are in great shape, Smith will be worried when he thinks about the University of Kentucky standing in front of them.

He and the coaching staff have thought of countless countermeasures and deployed many countermeasures, but in the end, only the small and fast tactics they are currently implementing have a chance to defeat the University of Kentucky.

Using speed to beat long formations has been their biggest reliance since the past twelve games, and now they have to continue to use it against this powerful opponent.

There is really no other way!

Their foundation and lineup are lacking in so much.

After Smith scratched his hair in worry, he picked up the landline receiver and called his assistant Jeff Friend.

"Jeff, let's carry out the arrangement we have always had."

"OK!"

Friend on the other end of the phone responded with a smile, "No problem."

The game between Auburn University and the University of Kentucky is here as scheduled.

Bill Burtka, the head of Southeastern Conference scouting from the Lakers, had just driven to the parking lot and parked his car when he unexpectedly saw a big shot.

Marty Blake!
This big shot who started out as a scout, played for the Atlanta Hawks for decades, and once sat on the throne of general manager, helped the team select Lenny Wilkens in the draft.

In the future, this person will be officially dubbed the 'Godfather of the Draft'.

Although not yet, he is now the official scouting director of the NBA.

They are the leaders of these teams’ offline arenas.

As soon as he saw this person parking the car in front of him and getting out of the driver's seat, he felt awe-inspiring.

He never imagined that just an ordinary regular season game in the Southeastern Conference would attract this big fish.

Is it because of Sam Bowie?

Burtka guessed as he turned on his main driver, got out, and followed quietly.

(End of this chapter)